Nigerian startups have secured an average of 79% of the total funding in West Africa each year over the past six years

Key takeaways:

  • A staggering 92.16% of all startup funding in West Africa flowed into Nigeria in 2019, showing the country’s lead in attracting investors.
  • Nigerian startups still led, but their share dropped to 68.03% in 2023 and 69.75% in 2024, indicating that other West African countries are starting to attract more investment.
  • Despite some shifts, no other West African country has come close to breaking Nigeria’s dominance. The remaining 20-30% of funding is spread across multiple nations, making it difficult for any single country to challenge Nigeria's position.
  • While Nigeria’s startup dominance is impressive, a more balanced regional investment landscape could lead to greater innovation and economic growth across multiple countries.

Over the last six years, Nigerian startups have secured an average of 79% of total startup funding in West Africa, reaffirming their dominance in the region. In some years, this figure soared as high as 92% (2019) and 85% (2021), showing Nigeria’s ability to attract investors at an unmatched scale. Even in 2023 and 2024, when funding became more distributed across the region, Nigeria still took a commanding share of 68% and 69.75%, respectively.

Source:

The Big Deal

Period:

2019 - 2024
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Kenya accounts for 83.8% of the total startup funds secured in East Africa from 2019 to 2024
  • Kenya is the absolute leader in startup funding, with $3.3 billion raised in the past six years.
  • The rest of East Africa is way behind, with Tanzania ($286M), Uganda ($183M), and Rwanda ($91M) being the next in line. But collectively, they don’t even match 20% of the funding Kenya received.
  • The total funding raised across East Africa from 2019 to 2024 is $3.94 billion, which means Kenyan startups alone secured more than 8 out of every 10 dollars invested in the region.
  • Investor confidence is highly concentrated in Kenya, largely due to its well-developed venture capital ecosystem, startup accelerators, and government support for innovation.
Over the past six years, Kenya has secured an average of 81% of the total funding available in East Africa
  • Kenya dominates East Africa’s startup funding, securing over 83% of all funds raised between 2019 and 2024 — a clear indication of its position as the region’s startup capital.
  • Kenya’s startup funding share has remained consistently above 80% since 2020.
  • 2023 and 2024 saw Kenya secure nearly 89% of all funds, marking its strongest position.
  • Other East African countries combined have not received more than 30% of the funding in any year since 2019.
  • The lowest share of funding Kenya secured was in 2019 (69.81%).
West Africa has secured $5.76 billion in startup funding since 2019, with Nigeria receiving over 80% of this total
  • Nigeria is the clear leader, securing over 80% of total startup funding in West Africa. Its ecosystem benefits from a strong fintech sector, a large market, and increased investor trust.
  • Ghana and Senegal are challengers, attracting $460M and $410M, respectively. These countries are proving they can compete but still have a long way to go to match Nigeria.
  • Nigeria’s startups raised over ten times more than Ghana, the second-highest country on the list. This highlights an imbalance in investor focus.
  • Benin ($133M) and Côte d'Ivoire ($107M) are rising players but remain in the shadows of the region’s top three. Their growing startup ecosystems could gain more traction with the right policies and investments.
  • Mali, Togo, and Sierra Leone struggle to attract major funding, receiving less than $30M each. This signals a need for stronger ecosystems and investor confidence in these markets.
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AI startups are growing in the innovation race in 2024, with ten companies from Forbes' AI 50 list collectively securing $29.5b in funding. OpenAI dominates the landscape with an impressive $11.3b, surpassing all other startups. Following OpenAI is Anthropic, which raised $7.7 billion, signalling significant investor confidence in companies driving large-scale AI advancements. These two companies alone account for over half of the total funding of all Forbes AI 50 firms. Databricks, a name synonymous with data infrastructure, comes in third with $4 billion in funding, emphasising the critical need for scalable data management systems in the age of AI. Meanwhile, Anduril, a defence technology innovator, secured $2.8 billion, showcasing how AI also shapes defence and national security sectors. Notably, the funding sharply drops after these four, with other companies raising less than $800m Note: Forbes’ AI 50, in partnership with Sequoia and Meritech Capital, highlights the top private startups advancing AI with the most promising business applications.
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In the past five years, Nigerian Fintech startups have received the most funding in the startup space, with over $1.01b raised in 2021, the highest in 14 years. Funding for the sector has since reduced following the raise in 2021.
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